He described the requirements as a " decapitation request" and categorically rejected another season in the 3. Liga, ultimately threatening to end the project in Leipzig if the license was not given.

RB Leipzig filed a second appeal on 12 May The compromise meant that the club had to redesign its crest and ensure that club management was independent from Red Bull GmbH.

Several players also left the team. The club spent an estimated sum of approximately 12 million euros on new players during the summer of The sum was large enough to put the club in 8th place of all clubs in the Bundesliga and 2.

Bundesliga, thus spending more than half of all clubs in the first division. RB Leipzig played a series of friendly matches during the —15 pre-season.

On 18 July , the team defeated Paris Saint-Germain 4—2 in front of 35, spectators and accredited journalists at the Red Bull Arena. The first goal was scored by Terrence Boyd, scoring his second goal in his second match for his new club.

Both goals were scored by Yussuf Poulsen. Bundesliga season began with 0—0 draw against VfR Aalen on 2 August , followed up by a couple of wins and another draw.

The first defeat in the league came at the 6th matchday, losing 1—2 against 1. After the 7th matchday, the club stood at second place in the league.

The team won the match with 2—1 on extra time at the Red Bull Arena on 16 August In the second round, the club faced FC Erzgebirge Aue.

The team won the match with 3—1 on extra time at the Red Bull Arena on 29 October , and qualified for the round of 16 for first time in club history.

RB Leipzig released its own club magazine Klub on 6 October After a series of disappointing results, the club had dropped down to a 7th place by the 13th matchday.

Pauli with 4—1 in front of 38, spectators at the Red Bull Arena. Two goals were scored by Terrence Boyd and the club climbed to a 5th place. The success, however, was followed by a draw against SV Sandhausen.

On 7 December , the team met first placed team FC Ingolstadt. RB Leipzig lost 0—1, and the result meant that the club now stood at 8th place. The club spent an estimated sum of 10,7 million euros on new players during the winter break, a sum which covered almost all transfer expenditures during the period for the whole of 2.

On 6 February , the club lost 2—0 to Erzgebirge Aue. As consequence, the club had now played four matches without a win and had lost contact with the top placed teams.

On the following Tuesday evening, the club summoned Alexander Zorninger to a meeting, and on Tuesday night, the club took the decision to walk separate ways with him after the season.

Already on the next morning, Alexander Zorniger announced his own decision to leave immediately. The club received criticism for its decision.

Under Alexander Zorniger, the club had risen from the Regionalliga to the 2. The decision was considered merciless by some media.

The club was eliminated after being defeated with 2—0 at the Red Bull Arena. The match was attended by 43, spectators.

It was the first time in club history that the stadium had been completely sold out. The preferred candidate of sporting director Ralf Ragnick as new head coach from the summer was former Mainz 05 coach Thomas Tuchel , but the negotiations with Thomas Tuchel failed.

Another candidate was Bayer Leverkusen junior coach Sascha Lewandowski , but he too declined the offer. In May , sporting director Ralf Ragnick was himself announced as new head coach from the summer, with Achim Beierlorzer as his assistant.

Ralf Rangnick was planned to serve this double job for one season. RB Leipzig finished the —15 2. Bundesliga season in fifth place.

Pauli and Willi Orban from 1. As several times in the past, three players were signed on free transfer, among them the Austrian national Stefan Ilsanker.

The signing of Davie Selke was record breaking, being the most expensive player ever signed in the history of the 2. In the 71st minute, referee Martin Petesen was badly hit in the head by a lighter, thrown from the home stand.

The match was again interrupted, and later cancelled. RB Leipzig also allowed the payment of the remaining 30, to be postponed until the next year.

In the midst of the European migrant crisis in , both club, staff, players and fans of RB Leipzig showed support for refugees.

The club also sold 60 containers from its training center, including sanitary facilities, to the city, in order to serve as accommodation for asylum seekers.

Also sporting director and head coach Ralf Rangnick participated in the donation, with personal concern for the commitment, citing his own background as being a child to refugees.

RB Leipzig made only few transfers during the winter break. RB Leipzig held the leading position in the league until the 27th matchday, when it was again lost to SC Freiburg, after the team suffered a 3—1 defeat away against 1.

The team now stood at second place in the league, only three points ahead of 1. The team was received before the celebration by Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung.

At the end of the season, Ralf Rangnick was to resign as head coach, in order to be able to focus on his job as sporting director. Bundesliga to the Bundesliga, and also managed to defend the spot in top tier during the —16 season.

RB Leipzig remained undefeated in the first thirteen league matches of the —17 season, breaking a record for the longest undefeated streak of a promoted team to the Bundesliga.

RB Leipzig became the first Bundesliga debutant, since the German reunification , to qualify for a European tournament, following a 4—0 win against SC Freiburg on 15 April More than 30, fans were present to celebrate the success of the team.

RB Leipzig was directly set to play in the traditional red and white colours of Red Bull football teams. The team therefore played its inaugural season in —10 without a crest.

The two bulls had been altered in shape and added a few strokes. The yellow sun has been changed in favor of a football and the initials of "RasenBallsport" have been relocated to the bottom of the crest and are no longer highlighted in red.

The contract runs until Red Bull Arena had a capacity of 44, seats during the —15 season. In March , RB Leipzig announced that it was going to invest 5 million euros in a redevelopment of the stadium, [] including an expansion of the VIP area, pressbox and wheelchair spaces.

It also included two new larger LED score boards and refurbished player facilities. The VIP area was expanded from seats to approximately seats.

The capacity of Red Bull Arena was reduced to 42, seats before the —16 season, due to redevelopment of various stadium areas. The Red Bull Arena is an all-seated stadium, without standing areas.

Home supporters are located in sector B. At the time, it was considered impossible to convert sector B into a standing area, for structural reasons.

RB Leipzig won the match 3—2. RB Leipzig was defeated 0—1, but the attendance set a new club record. The last home game of the —14 3. Liga season against 1.

The match was attended by 42, spectators. RB Leipzig won the match 5—1 and secured promotion. The Red Bull Arena was almost sold out and the attendance set a new club record.

The match was attended by 43, spectators, setting the current club record for a match at the Red Bull Arena as of RB Leipzig holds two attendance records.

The attendance set a new record for a Saxony Cup final. The qualifying match against Sportfreunde Lotte on 29 May at the Red Bull Arena was attended by 30, spectators.

The attendance set a new record for a match in the fourth tier of the German football league system. At that point, the club reported a total attendance of 1,, spectators, or an average of 14, spectators, for matches at the Red Bull Arena.

Their first Bundesliga home match was played on 10 September versus Borussia Dortmund in front of 42, spectators. In October , German media reported that the club wanted to expand the Red Bull Arena to 55, seats for future first division Bundesliga play.

An expansion to 55, seats would make the stadium one of the ten largest football venues in Germany. Who was to finance such an expansion remained unclear.

German media considered that a possible option was that Red Bull GmbH bought the stadium, to make the investments itself, but it was also considered unlikely that the current owner would be prepared to sell the stadium, which had just turned profitable.

It could also be used to put pressure on the current owner of the Red Bull Arena to agree to an expansion. In March , German media reported the club considered building a new stadium on the area north of Leipzig.

He pointed out how a new stadium on the outskirts of Leipzig could be detrimental to fan culture, and said that Red Bull Arena could be expanded to 55, seats, or even more.

In October , expansion of the Red Bull Arena was back on the agenda. New plans were made to expand the stadium to 57, seats, involving Viennese architect Albert Wimmer.

Reconstruction could start in the summer break of In February , German newspaper Leipziger Volkszeitung reported that club management again considered the possibility of building a new stadium with a capacity of 80, seats north of Leipzig.

However, a prerequisite for such a project would be that ticket demand exceeds the supply of seats in the Red Bull Arena significantly and sustainably.

Due to the move of the arena into ownership of Red Bull, a new stadium was out of possibility. The Stadium will expand to a total of 53, Seats as of Summer , beginning from November , when construction works will start.

RB Leipzig has 41 official fanclubs as of May The first two to become registered as official fanclubs were L. E Bulls and Bulls Club , both registered in E Bulls is the oldest official fanclub, [] but Bulls Club claims to be the biggest.

The different fan clubs and supporter groups are organized in the supporter union Fanverband RB Leipzig Fans.

The supporter union was founded in It is an umbrella organization for official fan clubs, unofficial fan clubs and other supporter groups.

Each supporter group in the supporter union is represented by two representatives. The representatives of the supporter groups meet every 4 to 6 weeks.

The supporter union also holds a general meeting once per year. Even fans that are not members of a supporter group are welcome at the general meeting.

The supporter union is represented by five to seven fan representatives, elected every second year. A maximum of five fan representatives are elected by the representatives of the supporter groups, two additional fan representatives are elected by the general assembly.

A core function of the fan representatives is to serve as a direct link to the club. The fan representatives can hold talks with club officials, for example, to communicate requests, suggestions and criticism from the supporter base.

In order to divide the work of the fan representatives, the supporter union has also created several working groups. Present were also club officials, such as general manager Ulrich Wolter.

Several German newspapers have noted the emergence of distinctly nonconformist supporter groups at the Red Bull Arena. The group members were said to see themselves as "Rasenballisten" and determined not to leave the supporter base solely to Red Bull GmbH.

The group was said to highly value the name "RasenBallsport" and to be committed to give the club an identity beyond that offered by Red Bull GmbH.

In the forefront, the group put the city of Leipzig. Their central idea was described as "Rasenballismus", stressing the Leipzig identity and the importance of impassioned fans.

Lecrats was described as geared towards the anti-commercial values of the ultra culture and as critics of Red Bull GmbH. IG Rasenballisten and the ultra groups were said to consciously avoid the reductions that apply to official fanclubs and to reject official club merchandise and the commercial name of the stadium.

The group had previously functioned as an interest community for other groups and individuals in the Red Bull Arena. Mitteldeutsche Zeitung reported that the group describes itself as uniting fanatical and critical fans of RB Lepizig.

The statement can be found on scarves sold by the group, and on a banner inside the stadium. RB Leipzig had previously refused to allow supporter groups such as Rasenballisten to sell their own merchandise at the stadium, but after lengthy negotiations, the club has given permission.

The ultra group Red Aces took position against Legida , the local offshoot of Pegida , at the beginning of In an open letter to the club, the stadium operator, the Mayor of Leipzig and the citizens of Leipzig in January , the group asked for support against a planned demonstration by Legida.

The demonstration was set to begin near the Red Bull Arena, and the group specifically asked for the stadium lights to be switched off at the time of the demonstration.

The stadium operator decided to support the initiative and agreed to switch off the lighting. The club refused to approve the requested banners, according to Red Aces because the club did not want politics in the stadium.

Despite the ban, the group displayed a banner directed towards Legida proclaiming the city of Leipzig to be diverse, cosmopolitan and tolerant.

The club refused to approve the requested banner. During the home match against FC St. Pauli on 23 August , Red Aces defied the supposed ban on anti-racist banners in the stadium through displaying a banner with a clear anti-Nazi message.

Pauli on 12 February Nearly 2, RB Leipzig supporters made its way to the Millerntorstadion and displayed a red and white flag tifo at the match start.

The away match against 1. The number set a new club record for away travels, which was breaked in the first two bundesliga seasons.

One year later, more than fans travelled for the last away game of the season to the German capital. Fanprojekt Leipzig is an organization for young football fans of different clubs in Leipzig, and works as an independent institution towards the different clubs.

The main areas for the organization are promoting a positive supporter culture, violence prevention, help for young supporters in problem situations and establishing communication between all parties involved, such as supporters, clubs, police and law enforcement.

Fanprojekt Leipzig is part of a network of similar Fanprojekts in numerous German cities. The different Fanprojekts are supported by a national coordination office KOS.

Fanprojekt Leipzig runs a number of centers in Leipzig used for purposes such as recreational activities, content projects, painting and creation of minor choreographies, and as meeting places.

For each club, the organization offers a social worker or pedagogue who works exclusively with supporters of that club. The organization carries out a variety of recreational and educational activities, including sporting activities, creative projects, readings and discussions and educational programs.

The organization has presence during match days, where it is available for personal contact by supporters, police and law enforcement, with the aim to be able to mediate between the parties and have a de-escalating effect.

RB Leipzig entered a cooperation agreement with Fanprojekt Leipzig in The cooperation agreement involves collaboration in eight categories, involving both home and away matches, as well as anti-racism work.

The detailed cooperation agreement was by then a novelty in Germany. In addition, the RB Leipzig formed a stadium ban commission, in which Fanprojekt Leipzig provides advice to the club.

Fanprojekt Leipzig has also arranged a number of events, in which supporters can discuss the development of the supporter scene, and whose results are presented for the club.

V is a registered voluntary association. Its executive body is the Vorstand , the management board. The management board is appointed by the Ehrenrat , the honorary board.

It is also subordinated to the Aufsichtsrat , the supervisory board. The honorary board is elected directly by the club members at the general meeting.

Significant organizational changes were made in , following requirements set up by the German Football League DFL. One of the requirements was to change the composition of organizational bodies.

Both the management board and the honorary board had been composed by either employees or agents of Red Bull. In addition, a supervisory board was added.

These functions were now transferred to a newly created supervisory board that can perform these tasks independently.

The club decided to transfer the former members of the honorary board to the newly created supervisory board. Voting membership is severely restricted.

According to Ulrich Wolter, the club does not aspire towards the high number of members of other clubs. Wolter has also pointed at other clubs, where Ultras have succeeded in creating structures, and stated that the club absolutely wants to avoid such conditions.

For the establishment of a registered voluntary association, an association is required by German law [] to have at least seven members.

Four years after its founding, the club had only 9 members, all employees of Red Bull. This restrictive membership policy met criticism, thus one of the original requirements set up by the DFL in order to obtain a license for the —15 2.

Bundesliga season was to lower the membership fees and open up the association for new members. The club responded to the pressure from the DFL and announced changes to the membership in June The annual fee for this type of membership is between 70 and euros and serves to promote junior football within the club.

In return, a supporting member receives certain privileges such as a meeting with the professional team and a fitness session at the Red Bull Arena.

Supporting members also have the right to attend general meetings, although without voting rights. On 2 December , the general meeting of the association voted unanimously for the founding of a spin-off organization in the form of a GmbH.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting. Present were 14 voting members and 40 supporting members. The remaining one percent is held by the association.

In , the club switched to the American sportswear brand Nike , in an agreement that will be in place until at least In , Red Bull announced its intention to engage long term in Leipzig.

In this context the club sought a location for a training center and a youth academy. Towards the end of the year, the club made concrete plans to invest 30 million euros in a training center comprising six pitches, offices and a youth academy.

The training center was to be located at Cottaweg, partly on the area of the naturally protected riparian forest Leipziger Auwald and the site of the traditional fair Leipziger Kleinmesse.

The construction was to be carried out in two phases and began in March Pitch one was also provided with four 38 meter masts producing HD-compatible lightning for optimal television broadcasts.

Locker rooms, sanitary facilities and weight rooms were installed in 60 containers, totaling square meters. The second phase of construction began in January For the second phase, the training center was to be expanded with two pitches, an area for goalkeeping practices and a three-story 13, square meters sports complex, meant to offer amenities for all RB Leipzig teams, from the U8 team to the professional team.

In addition, pitch one was to be provided with a covered grandstand with at least 1, seats, for A- and B-junior matches. The new sports complex was opened in September and taken in use by the professional team and six junior teams, from U14 to the reserve team.

Remains to be constructed in the spring of are a covered grandstand with 1, seats, an area for motor skills-training and a parking area.

As of , the club has already plans for even further expansions of the training center. The club wants to build an additional pitch to the south of the training center.

Such expansion would require more ground from the Leipziger Kleinmesse, and is therefore met with several objections.

The club ceded parts of its grounds to RB Leipzig in For this, the club received compensation. Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules.

Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Statistics correct as of the end of the —18 season. Having finished as runners-up in their debut season in the German top flight, RB Leipzig gained entry to continental football for the first time, specifically the —18 UEFA Champions League for which Red Bull Salzburg had also qualified as Austrian champions ; this raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest between the clubs due to the level of influence exerted by Red Bull over both teams and the close sporting relationship between them in various aspects.

In the first season following that ruling, both reached the quarter-finals of the —18 UEFA Europa League but did not play each other, with RB Leipzig eliminated by Olympique de Marseille who then also knocked out Salzburg in the semi-finals.

However, in the next edition of the same competition, RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg were drawn together in Group B to meet competitively for the first time.

RB Leipzig is one of the first clubs in history to qualify for the Champions League so soon eight years after its creation. The establishment of RB Leipzig has caused much controversy in Germany.

The controversy has revolved around the apparent involvement of Red Bull GmbH and the restrictive membership policy. Critics have been found both in the management and among coaches and supporters of other clubs.

The introduction of RB Leipzig was met with protests from supporters of other Leipzig football clubs, notably 1. They feared a decline of traditional fan culture in Leipzig, and a commercialization of football in the region.

The German economist Dr. Tobias Kollman said in that he saw Red Bull GmbH as a company with clear economic goals for its projects. Consequently, he described RB Leipzig as a "marketing club" and said that it was the first of this kind in Germany.

They complained that such clubs are pushing back traditional clubs, and warned that RB Leipzig could well be the next such club to push a traditional club out of the Bundesliga.

As head coach of VfL Bochum , he said in that RB Leipzig "made him sick" and that he considered the club to be built on purely economical interests.

He further complained that competing with RB Leipzig was not a fair deal, because the club could sign the players it wanted, and that such competition "had nothing to do with the sport that we love".

They have protested against commercialization of football, the apparent involvement of Red Bull GmbH and the allegedly undemocratic structures at RB Leipzig.

Following that RB Leipzig gained promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in , supporter groups from ten clubs in the 2. In March , the campaign web page indicated a number of supporter groups from 29 clubs.

At away matches, the club has regularly been greeted with protests in various forms. During the away match against 1.

FC Union Berlin on 21 September , the home supporters symbolically wore black plastic ponchos and were silent for the first 15 minutes of the match.

A large banner displayed by home supporters said: Another banner displayed said: FC Heidenheim on 18 September , the player bus was approached upon the arrival at the stadium by supporters of 1.

During the home match against FC Hansa Rostock on 23 November , the away supporters protested by being entirely absent for the first seven minutes of the match and then filled the guest block in large numbers.

FC Union Berlin on 19 February At some occasions, the protests have turned into violence and threats.

The player bus was attacked with bottles, and the police had to use pepper spray to succeed. The team was insulted, spat at and pelted with beer cups during the warm-up, and had to leave the stadium with police escort after the match.

Riots also appeared after the match when home supporters tried to break through a security perimeter to approach away supporters. Firecrackers and other objects were thrown at the police, and four police officers were slightly injured in the turmoil.

The night before the match, the lobby of the player hotel in Karlsruhe was stormed by local hooligans. Several football clubs, such as VfB Stuttgart , 1.

Some critics can however also be found among the supporters of RB Leipzig. The supporter group Rasenballisten describes itself as uniting critical supporters.

The group members have stated that the identity of a club cannot solely rely on its main sponsor and the group has criticized Red Bull GmbH for dominating the external representation of the club.

Instead, the group wants to emphasize the name RasenBallsport and the Leipzig identity. Sporting director Ralf Rangnick has pointed at the fact that sponsors and investors are present also at other clubs.

He admitted that there was a difference: FC Bayern Munich first had sporting success, and then sponsors and investors.

However, he insisted that the situation at VfL Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen was exactly the same, and that VfL Wolfsburg became German champions in to a very large extent due to the financial support from Volkswagen AG.

He explained that when the company is committed in sports, it is involved in the sports operations itself. It has been suggested that the restrictive membership policy was implemented in order to prevent the club from being taken over by hostile supporters.

He also said that the conditions that had prevailed at some other clubs had certainly not been positive for their development.

The club entered a cooperation agreement with the supporter organization Fanprojekt Leipzig in , and the club also has a dialogue with the fan representatives of the supporter union Fanverband RB Leipzig Fans.

Both Dietrich Mateschitz and sporting director Ralf Rangnick have made comments on transfer policy. Dietrich Mateschitz commented on the football commitment of Red Bulll GmbH in and said that the company was "no good stars buyers".

What we do, we try to do with our brain. Nothing is easier than to take a bag full of money and go shopping.

That is stupid, stupid we are not". And that with as many own players as possible". Bundesliga who had not signed any players from another club in the league.

Several people have responded to the rejection of RB Leipzig as a "plastic club", which lacks traditions. Sporting director Joachim Krug said in that RB Leipzig was simply a newly founded club with high ambitions.

By this, he meant that also RB Leipzig will one day become a traditional club. Sporting director Ralf Ragnick declared in that there were actually advantages to working in a new club without deep-rooted traditions.

He explained that structural changes and staffing decisions could be implemented quickly and flexibly at RB Leipzig, since there are no established hierarchies and less resistance in the environment.

He further said that he had seen enough examples of traditional clubs which have not made it anywhere. He said that to him, what mattered was if there existed a working philosophy and sustainability.

RB Leipzig has also received positive criticism and praise. He explained that young players will stay in the area and that the overall level of football in Lepzig will rise.

Mayor Burkhard Jung praised Dietrich Mateschitz as "honest, ambitious and serious". The prize ceremony was for the first time attended by the Minister-president of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich.

He said that he hoped for high class football, and that it would have earned the whole region and East Germany. Bundesliga was a great development for East Germany and that the attendance boom in Leipzig showed just how much the club had been awaited.

He said that decisive would be what the club could offer its fans, and that if the model works, it would be beneficial for all football, not only for football in East Germany.

Bundesliga in and said that it was the best thing that could happen to football in Leipzig. He also rejected the complaints of "traditionalists", as 1.

In interviews published in German newspaper Bild in , representatives of several Leipzig football clubs explained how their clubs had benefited from the establishment of RB Leipzig.

Former FC Sachsen Leipzig liquidator Heiko Kratz explained that by , the club was no longer able to finance its youth academy, but by selling its A to D junior teams to RB Leipzig, at least they could give the players a future.

Ralph Zahn from ESV Delitzsch said that the financial compensation from RB Leipzig had made it possible for the club to build an artificial turf pitch with floodlights for the cost of , euros.

RB Leipzig also had an increase in five out of six image values. Sympathetic had increased 2. Archived from the original on 4 March Retrieved 31 July VfB have secured a re-purchase option for Kimmich at the end of his stint in Leipzig.

Retrieved 14 August Retrieved 10 September Retrieved 14 September Retrieved 26 August Retrieved 20 May Retrieved 5 August Champions League semi-final first leg — as it happened".

Retrieved 9 August Champions League semi-final — as it happened". Retrieved 19 May Kimmichs Volley, Alabas Dropkick". Retrieved 29 December Retrieved 1 June Joshua Kimmich performance at right-back may have solved an ongoing problem for Germany".

Retrieved 22 June Retrieved 4 July Joshua Kimmich stunner denies Danes". Retrieved 28 September Retrieved 4 June Retrieved 20 June Retrieved 7 September Retrieved 16 March Retrieved 14 December Retrieved 16 October Retrieved 5 September The official website for European football.

Riots also appeared motogp argentinien the match when home supporters tried to break through a security perimeter to approach away supporters. The team therefore played its inaugural season in —10 hotel casino rosenthal selb a crest. Former Schalke 04 head coach Ralf Rangnick was introduced as the new sporting director. This section is too long. Views Read Edit View history. Retrieved 25 September At Leipzig, betfair exchange deutschland was part of an extremely attack-minded team in which his ball-winning casino online anbieter in front of a high back four shone through. Retrieved 14 June The first win came at the 4th matchday, in an away match against Holstein Kielwhich ended wwe tim wiese for RB Leipzig. Retrieved 28 February Leipziger Internet Zeitung in German.